The Mubi CEO’s response to growing backlash the arthouse distributor has received for taking on an investor with ties to the Israeli military has been described as containing “encouraging developments” but ultimately being “perplexing” and “disappointing.”

In a statement that was sent out on Aug. 16, Efe Cakaral addressed a controversy that has been gathering steam since Mubi secured a $100 million investment from Sequoia Capital in late May. Sequoia was a key investor in Israeli defense-tech startup Kela, founded by four veterans of Israeli intelligence units in response to the terror attacks of Oct. 7 and more than six months into the invasion of Gaza.

Cakarel denied accusations that Mubi was “complicit in the events occurring in Gaza,” by partnering with Sequoia. He also announced t

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